President Joe Biden pointed to former President Donald Trump’s “rhetoric” after a recent assassination attempt while admitting that his “bullseye” comment was a “mistake” in an exclusive interview with NBC News Monday.
Within a first clip released of Biden’s interview on “NBC Nightly News,” the president was pressed on his language around Trump and if it could inspire others to take action following an assassination attempt against the former president Saturday. NBC News host Lester Holt asked Biden about his comment to his National Finance Committee in which he stated it was time “to put Trump in the bullseye.”
“I didn’t say crosshairs. I’m talking about focus on. Look, the truth of the matter was when I guess I was talking about it at the time, was, there was very little focus on Trump’s agenda,” Biden said.
Holt then jumped in to reiterate to the president that he used the term “bullseye” while discussing his campaign strategy against Trump.
“It was a mistake to use the word. I didn’t say crosshairs, I meant bullseye. I meant focus on him. Focus on what he’s doing. Focus on his policies. Focus on the number of lies he told in the debate. I mean, there’s a whole range of things that — look, I’m not the guy that said I want to be a dictator on day one. I’m not the guy that refused to accept the outcome of the election,” Biden said. “I’m not the guy who said that one accept the outcome of this election automatically. You can’t only love your country when you win. And so the focus was on what he’s saying and I mean the idea.”
During a private call on July 8 with Democratic donors Biden made the comments about Trump after pushing back on calls for him to step aside as the party’s nominee following his poor debate performance, according to Politico. The president urged that they should be looking forward to the Democratic National Convention (DNC) and the election, adding “it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye.”
“But have you taken a step back and done a little soul searching on things that you may have said that could incite people who are not balanced?” Holt pressed.
“Well, I don’t think — look, how do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real, when a president says things like he says. Do you just not say anything because it may incite somebody? Look, I’ve not engaged in that rhetoric. Now my opponent is engaged in that rhetoric,” Biden continued. “He talks about it’d be a bloodbath if he loses, talking about how he’s gonna forgive all — or actually, I guess, suspend the sentences of all those who were arrested and sentenced to go to jail because of what happened in the Capitol. I’m not out there making fun of like, remember the picture of Donald Trump when Nancy Pelosi’s husband was hit with a hammer, going [and] talking about joking about it.”
Biden’s remarks follow a Saturday statement by the White House calling for national “unity” in response to the failed assassination attempt against Trump.
“Jill and I are grateful to the Secret Service for getting him to safety. There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it,” Biden’s statement read.
During a Pennsylvania campaign rally Saturday, eight shots were fired at the former president and crowd members by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks. While Trump suffered a wound to his upper ear, former volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore was fatally shot.
